Tong Yang Group requested a local court to approve preferred bidder status for the Taiwanese brokerage house, according to the sources.

The stake up for sale is some 27 percent held by the group's affiliates.

Five affiliates of Tong Yang Group, South Korea's 38th-largest conglomerate, applied for court receivership in late September on liquidity shortages after the group failed to pay back maturing short-term debts.

Tongyang Securities has been under fire for misleading investors about risks entailed in corporate bonds and commercial papers they were selling. The bulk of such debt was issued by its parent group as underlying assets.

Industry watchers estimated that the price tag could reach some 200 billion won ($186 million). (Yonhap)